


Not a Loser

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-02
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2019-03-25 23:32:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13845348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Shadow comforts Darko after a Dark Core meeting gone wrong. Shadow belongs to Shadowlord13.





	Not a Loser

Shadow heard the sniffling as soon as she walked into the private quarters that she shared with Darko. Once, she’d stayed in various inns on the mainland while she’d been training horses and helping out the people of Jorvik. But, ever since she’d started dating Darko, Shadow had decided that she’d much prefer to be closer to him. Besides, Darko’s quarters were more than big enough for two, and he didn’t mind having her there. He actually insisted on it.

But the sound of crying was new.

“Darko?” asked Shadow, closing the door behind her and hanging her hat and coat by the door. Both were rather soaked from the rain, as usual. If she wasn’t so worried about looking ridiculous, Shadow would probably start wearing a raincoat while she was out here. She heard a sniff, and walked further into the room, her eyes widening as she took in the sight of Darko sitting in front of his vanity where he usually applied his eyeliner and hair gel.

“Am I really a failure?” asked Darko, not turning to look at her. In the mirror, Shadow could see that his eyes were bloodshot and red-rimmed, his cheeks muddy with eyeliner.

“What? No, what makes you say that?” asked Shadow, walking over to him and putting her hand on his shoulder. Darko sniffed again.

“Do you remember how I told you that I was sent on a very important mission?” said Darko, finally turning to look at her. Shadow just wanted to hug him, but all she could do was rub his shoulder. The chair wasn’t big enough for two, and besides, it was mostly under the vanity, so she couldn’t exactly sit on his lap.

“Yeah,” said Shadow, nodding. “Some more secret Dark Core business that I wasn’t allowed to know about.”

“You would have warned your friends,” said Darko.

“You’re right,” said Shadow, nodding. “Especially after I heard what happened.”

“Well, I couldn’t let them take Anne, she’s the only thing stopping them from defeating us,” said Darko. “But the worst part is that I failed.”

“I know, I heard,” said Shadow, frowning and squeezing his shoulder. “I’m sorry. I know that you did your best, though.”

“But it wasn’t good enough,” said Darko, rubbing his face and making an even bigger mess of it. “I summoned the tentacles, I turned Pandoria hostile, and I made it all the way to the Secret Stone Circle, but then that little rodent…” He trailed off, gritting his teeth and clenching his hand into a fist.

“It’s okay, get it all out,” said Shadow, beginning to massage his shoulders now. Darko sighed.

“It hurt, you know,” said Darko. “Getting sucked back into that portal.”

“I imagine that it would,” said Shadow. “Especially after that explosion.”

“I didn’t see you afterwards because I didn’t want you to see me so injured,” said Darko. “The keystone has shards of Pandorium in it. So I had to pluck the stone and the Pandorium from my skin, and then I had to bleed out the pink.” Shadow hissed in sympathy.

“But you’re okay now,” said Shadow. “Right?”

“Oh, yes, physically,” said Darko. “But I am an utter mess mentally.” Shadow rubbed his shoulder, cooing in sympathy. “And, to add insult to injury, that bitch Jessica just had to point out how completely and utterly I’d failed.”

“Well, hey, at least you tried,” said Shadow. Darko sniffed.

“Tried and failed,” said Darko.

“Hey, was Jessica there to chase away the rescuers?” asked Shadow. “Was Sabine? Katja? Mr Sands?”

“No,” said Darko, shaking his head. “Katja volunteered for the most recent mission, though. She’s on the mainland now, probably doing better at her task than I did at mine.”

“Okay,” said Shadow, nodding. “But are any of them training someone in magic? Can any of them boast that? Out of all of them, you’re the best Dark Rider.”

“That may be so,” said Darko. “But they are the ones whom my master chose to be his Generals. I am simply an accomplice. Someone who helps them. Anyone could do that.”

“But you do the best job at it,” said Shadow. “You train me hard, and you train them hard, too. Plus, you’re always reminding them of their main goal, especially when they start to forget about it because it’s taking so long to get there. Just look at what happened with Mr Sands, he was obsessed with trying to turn Justin into the fourth Dark Rider until you showed up and set him straight.”

“I guess that I did succeed in that task,” said Darko. “Even if Justin was eventually rescued.”

“Well, the main thing is, you got the distraction out of the way,” said Shadow. “So you achieved that goal.”

“Only to fail miserably at the next one,” said Darko with a sigh. Shadow scoffed.

“I wouldn’t call it a miserable failure,” said Shadow. “You did a damn good job before Fripp stopped you. And hey, he’s out of the picture now.”

“You’re right,” said Darko, grinning, the light coming back into his eyes. “One of the biggest thorns in our sides, and I have successfully managed to take him out.”

“That’s the spirit,” said Shadow, grinning and choosing not to point out that it was Fripp’s choice to sacrifice himself for the sake of the Soul Riders. “And, like I said, you’re doing a great job of training me in my magic, and that’s on top of trying to bring Nihili to Jorvik.”

“Yes, that task has proven to be rather more difficult than I initially envisioned,” said Darko, rubbing his chin. Shadow was glad to see that the tears on his cheeks had dried up, and his eyes no longer glistened with tears. “However, perhaps I should throw myself into that.”

“You should,” said Shadow, nodding. “The sooner we can bring her back, the sooner we can do the ceremony.”

“Though, she will need to regain her strength before she can be of any use to us,” said Darko. 

“I’ll help with that,” said Shadow. “She can train on me.”

“Are you sure?” asked Darko. “Even weakened, Nihili fights dirty.”

“I’m not fragile,” said Shadow. “I can handle myself. And if I get hurt, you can heal me.” Darko smiled up at her, then pushed the chair back, Shadow moving out of the way. He stood, took a step closer to her, and kissed her, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend.

“Thank you, Shadow,” said Darko, murmuring the words onto her lips. “You always know just how to cheer me up.”

“Someone needs to drag you out of the darkness from time to time,” said Shadow, smiling, and kissed him again. His lips were a little salty from his tears, but that was okay. At least he was in a better mood now. And maybe, Jessica might find a nasty little trick in her bedroom tonight.


End file.
